


Reunion

by FindMeMore



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Dystopia, Gen, Sick Dean Winchester, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2014-10-30
Packaged: 2018-02-07 15:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1903614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FindMeMore/pseuds/FindMeMore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Sam are fighting for survival in a word that is no longer livable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunion

It had been a week. His water was running out and he had no choice but to continue walking. The abandoned city was too still, too quiet. He couldn't quite soothe his sense of unease. His footsteps were too loud in the deserted city. Ever since developing countries got on the same level as the rest of the world, everything went downhill. The Earth couldn't support 17 billion people, the resources were not nearly enough. 

He could remember how ridiculously expensive everything had become. Not that it wasn't ridiculously hard to find anything acceptable to eat or drink these days. Everything was polluted, it was hard to breathe on normal days. He took another ragged breath and tried to steady his bruised and scarred hands. Never before had he realized how mean and violent people would become when desperate. 

Still half a day to go, he thought to himself. He could barely feel his legs and the temperature was too high for him to stand it. He tried to reassure himself, spoke aloud about how his brother was waiting for him. He had till midnight before his brother would assume that he had died, as agreed. No point waiting for someone in a place where you couldn't survive. 

He stopped for a while, but didn't dare to sit down. He wouldn't get up if he did. Instead, he looked up to the sky, and could only imagine how beautiful it had been only few decades ago. Now you couldn't see the sun from all the fog. He took a steadying breath, not that it helped, and continued his journey. 

Cursing himself, he tried to fasten his pace. His legs were numb and he was still bleeding from where the other human had struck him. What a madman, he thought. But then, so am I. At least he had gotten the weird lizard thing. The feeling of his legs had left a long time ago, but he couldn't stop now. He had promised. He could already see the grand central station in the distance. He made his legs work faster.

In the end, he stumbled inside the old station. It was a miracle that it was still standing. He made his way towards a crack in a far wall.

"Dean!" A happy voice shouted and all he coul see was a blurry figure coming towards him. When he felt his little brother's arms around him, his legs gave out. The hug took all the breath out of his lungs, not that it made a big difference, mind.

"Hiya Sammy," he said, trying to gulp air down to his lungs. "You shouldn't be away for so long. I was worried and I know you cannot breathe normally when you walk that much."

"It's nothing," he said, his breathing rasping. "Look what I found." He took their next week's food out of his bag, along with twelve bottles of water. All the pain went away when he saw Sam's face light up. The kid was too smart for his own good (too bad he couldn't get education) and overly skinny with long, messy hair. Sam smiled so big he was afraid he would dislocate something. Nothing was better than this. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop time so he could keep Sam happy forever. His eyes watered, but if somebody had asked him about it, he would have blamed the permanent fog over the city.

Sam took the lizard in his hands, inspected it a little before humming. He went back to the way he came, took some stones from from there and started to heat them up. "Clean the water first," he said to Sam. He saw Sam rolling his eyes before answering. "I'm not stupid, Dean."

 

That made him smile. Soon they would have to move, preferably close to some trees, if they could find any. But first he could eat with his little brother, just as he had promised to their late parents. The small smile didn't leave his face even when they went to sleep.

 

Dean woke up gasping for breath. He was coughing and gasping for air to his lungs simultaneously, which didn't help at all. He cursed himself - which started to come a regular occurrence - when he felt Sam patting his back. He wasn't supposed to wake his little brother up with his stupid breathing problems (not that he admitted to having any problems) nor with anything else, really. When he got his breathing back under control there were tears in his eyes. 

"You okay?" He heard Sam ask. His episodes were slowly getting worse and more regular. They were starting to disturb his explorings as he couldn't go that far or fast, less so with the added weight. More often than not he had to take Sam with him. He nodded to Sam in a silent answer. He could feel the air around Sam to be thoughtful. He was still breathing hard when he heard a murmur coming from the direction Sam was in. "You should let me go on my own." For a moment, he couldn't get enough air and snapped his head towards Sam so fast he could hear his joints pop. "Absolutely not!" He shouted. 

"But Dean-" He started.

"No, Sammy." He gritted out before the kid had a chance to continue his sentence.

"I'm already thirt-"

"Thirteen is nothing! You're a child and it is dangerous out there as you well know and have seen." He felt a little bit bad at reminding him of bad memories when he saw Sam flinch.

"You are ill, Dean."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not! I can see how hard it is for you to catch your breath, even now."

"I said I'm fine."

"I cannot lose you too, Dean." Sam whispered after a moment of silence. His eyes were wet, his lips trembling a little, his form hunched into himself. Sam hadn't seemed that young and vulnerable in a long time.

"You're not going to lose me. But you're not going anywhere alone. That's final."

And as it happens, soon he cannot walk normally without losing his breath. They go out less and less, which worries him. Sam should be able to eat more. They are resting on a block of cement when Sam puts his foot down. "I'm going alone. No, don't give me that look. We've been walking less than usual in five hours, Dean. This is your seventh break. You need to rest."

"Sammy," he rasped. "I can do this, let's go." He couldn't breathe, and unfortunately for him, Sam noticed. "I'm going. You, stay put and I'll see you later." He had admitted defeat and concentrated on his breathing alongside worrying for his little brother. Be save, he thought.

 

A couple of months later, it was Dean that was left behind. Sam was fourteen and if you asked him, more than capable of handling them both, thank you very much. Dean hated the feeling of uselessness. "I got you some water," Sam said as he handed him a bottle of cleaned water. Sam listened closely to his brother's ragged breathing. He gulped down his water as slow as he was able, ignoring his brother. 

Later, when they were going to bed, Sam's eyebrows furrow when he hears how labored his brother's breathing is. 

"You okay?" Sam asks. He just nods in answer, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground. He doesn't feel so good. "I'll talk to you tomorrow if I don't wake up dead." He said.

"Don't even joke about it, Dean." That bought a small smile to his face.

"Good night, Sammy."

"Night Dean. See you in the morning."

Dean just hummed noncommittally and closed his eyes until all he could see was black. Somehow, breathing didn't hurt that much anymore.


End file.
